Scenarios Question 1500 words

Robert is the registered proprietor of a house in Riverside drive at the base of Mt Evermost in regional NSW. Robert has owned the property for about 30 years. Last year, Robert decided to lease a demountable dwelling at the rear of the property to Alexis who runs a community art studio from the demountable. The rent from Alexis helps to offset other expenses of the property. Negotiations over the lease were protracted and, in the end, Robert allowed Alexis to move in before they had finalised the lease arrangements. Alexis accepted a 2-year lease at $250 per week, payable annually in advance.

Robert is now getting on in years and finds the maintenance of his property a bit much and has decided to downsize to an apartment closer to town where he has better access to services and amenities. One of his neighbours, Henry, has had his eye on Robert's property for quite a while and has made him offers to buy the Riverside property on several occasions but Robert has always tuned him down. However, in March this year, Robert contacted Henry and said he now wanted to sell up the Riverside drive property and asked if Henry was still interested? The sale price was $1.8 million. Henry jumped at the chance. Robert said he was happy to give Henry an option to purchase and a first right of refusal in case there were any other potential buyers showing interest. He made a note of this on this phone and sent it to Henry via Facebook messenger.

The following day Robert was approached by Mirvac, who had also heard that Robert was selling up. Mirvac offered Robert $2.2 million cash and says he can transfer the deposit immediately and the balance of the sale price by the end of the month if a contract can be drawn up and signed by the end of the week. Robert thinks this is an excellent deal. He contacts his conveyancer Phillip to prepare a sale contract to Mirvac for $2.2 million. Phillip asks Robert is there anything about the property he should know about before preparing the contract and relevant disclosure documents. Robert says 'No, there is nothing unusual and I want the contract finalised asap.' In due course a contract of sale from Robert to Mirvac is prepared and signed by both parties and Mirvac pays the deposit of $220,000 to Robert's conveyancer.

Questions

Advise Henry of his rights against Robert and what he can do to protect his interest.

Advise Alexis of her rights against Mirvac, assuming he becomes registered proprietor.

Required

Clearly identify all your legal authorities (legislation, regulations, and case law)

Abbreviation of legislation and regulation titles is acceptable after the first reference (e.g., Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) CA; Real Property Act 1900 (NSW) RPA)

In referring to cases only the names of the parties is required (e.g., Breskvar v Wall).